Siege inquest witness list slashed

The number of witnesses who will give oral evidence at the inquest into the Sydney siege has been slashed, amid warnings the inquiry itself was initiated in the face of the risk of another terrorist attack.

NSW Coroner Michael Barnes on Thursday ruled in favour of an application from counsel assisting the inquest that the witness list be streamlined to focus on the most critical evidence, including from key decision makers, police snipers and the officers who stormed the cafe and shot gunman Man Haron Monis.

The streamlined list of about 17 critical witnesses, down from the 40 people who were yet to be called, will also include the chief of the negotiation team, experts, the commander of the tactical operations unit and the officer in charge of the police snipers.

It will also include a sniper who observed Tori Johnson's final moments before Monis executed him, after Dr Peggy Dwyer, the counsel assisting the family of the slain cafe manager, objected to the application and insisted the officer give evidence.

"He's a sniper who saw Tori in the minutes before Tori was shot, on his knees with his hands above his head," Dr Dwyer said in making her objections.

"You can imagine how important it is for the family: how he could communicate that information and if there were barriers, whether those barriers could be removed."

Dr Dwyer added that arguments about the witness list at such a late stage in the inquest were "really distressing" to the family.

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But Mr Barnes ruled there was a need to expedite the inquiry, amid warnings from counsel assisting the inquest Jeremy Gormly SC that it was at risk of spilling "well into 2017" in terms of its ability to report its findings.

"I am persuaded that there is a pressing need for the report of this inquest to be finalised and published," Mr Barnes said, adding that "declining to call a particular witness does not mean his or her evidence is being concealed or suppressed".

Mr Barnes noted that Mr Gormly had raised the point that "police and counter-terrorism agencies are actively engaged in reviewing how incidents such as the Lindt Cafe siege should best be responded to in future".

Mr Gormly, in his submissions, also warned that much of the need to expedite the process "arose from the risk of another terrorist incident".

"If there were police or other failures it is better to know about them sooner rather than later," he said.

The inquest will resume on Monday when the head of the negotiation team, identified by the codename Graham, is expected to give evidence.